Storm window top ventilator



Nov. 16, 1937. J SCHMIIYJT I 2,099,235

STORM WINDOW TOP VENTILATOR Filed Jan. 6, 1936 I- i i /4 -l 4 o was/0E5 I J j j ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 16, I937 UNITED STATES" PATEN OFFICE 8' Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in storm window top ventilators. V Theprimary object of my invention is to provide satisfactory means for providing ventilation 5 through the top rail of a storm sash, whereby warmair may escape froma heated room by passing underneath a raised permanently mountedlower sash, and thence upwardly along the permanently mounted sash to escape to theexterior through a top opening in'a storm sash having a shutter which may be opened when such ventilation is desired. Y

Heretofore attempts have been made to provide openings and shutters in the toprail of a storm sash, but such openings as heretofore constructed have weakened the top rail, and the shutters heretofore attempted to be employed have been without means for convenient manipulation to open or closed position. These Objections have as to cause the building industry to confine Storm sash ventilation to the lower rail of the sash where the shutter can be easily reached, andwhere an opening can be provided in the sash Z rail least subject to strain. My inventioncontemplates a reinforcement of the top rail in such amanner as to provide a mounting for shutter operating mechanism, said mounting being adapt- Figure 4 is a fragmentary view of a. portion of' the outer face of the mounting plate showing a corresponding portion of the shutter in closed positiona Figure 5 is a sectional view drawn to line 5-5 of Figure 2.

Figures 6 and '7 are detail sectional views similar. to Figure 2 but showing modifications.

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

' In'the preferred embodiment of my invention the top rail in of the window sash is provided with an elongated opening or slot 1 I, and a reinforcing plate l2, Fig.3, is secured to the outer face of the sash rail ID. This reinforcing plate .has' a slot l3 corresponding generally with. the dimensions of the slot II in the'sashrailpkand been so important from a practical standpoint;v

ed to securely hold the shutter in either the open the plate I2 is provided along theupper and lower margins of the slot I3 with inturned flanges l4 and i5 which are respectively fitted to the upper and lower walls of the slot in the sash rail lil. The shutter comprises a fiat plate ll having its upper margin cylindrically rolled about a hinge pin l9 which has its ends extended and received in the butts 20 of the hinge leaves 2i. The hinge members or leaves 2i may be secured to the plate J2, preferably by lips 22 struck up from the leaves 2| and extended through apertures or slots in the plate I2. These lips may be inturned and clinched upon the inner face of the plate, as best shown in Fig.3. 7

The flanges l4 and I5 may be struck up from the plate l2, when forming the slot It. The material of theplate. I2 is slitted above the longitudinal center line of the slot, and at the ends of theslota'semi-circular portion of the material is cutaway. A'portion of the side margin of the lower or, wider flange i5 is also cut away at each end,leaving a central strip of a length indicated bydotted lines in Fig. 3. Each'end portion'of this strip is partially severed from the body of the flange l5 and bent upwardly, thus forming a U-shaped bracket comprising two upstanding side plates or arms 21 connected by .a central web 28 integral with the body of the flange 15. Between the arms 21 a cam-shaped plate 29 ispivotally supported by a cross pin 36. .This cam-shaped plate 29 may be oscillated upon its pivotal support, and its oscillation in one direction may be limited by contact of its shoulder 3| with the web 28, as clearly shown in Fig. 6.

Substantially at the center of the shutter ll I provide an inwardly projecting bracket 32 which :may be struck up from sheet metal and provided with ears 33, which extend through the shutter and are clinched thereto. This bracket 32 is suitably apertured to receive the elbowed extremity of a link 34 which connects it with the plate 29, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The link .34'may comprise a piece of wire, the end portions .of' which are elbowed and respectively extended through'the bracket 32 and plate 29 with the exv shutter in the open position. 5

The plate 29 may be manually manipulated by means of a lever 38 which may be pivoted to the sash rail Id at 39 with its inner end portion elbowed at 49 and extended along one side of the plate 29, to which it is secured by a stapleshaped link member 42, best shown in Fig. 5. The outer end of this lever 38 is provided with a series of apertures 43, in one of which an operating link or chain 44 may be engaged in a position to extend downwardly along one side rail 45 of the storm sash, to a position where its lower end can be readily grasped. Suitable staples it hold this linkage to the side rail of the sash, preferably in a position parallel thereto.

By providing lever 38 with a series of holes 43, the device may be readily attached to storm sash of differing widths.

Plate 29 will preferably be provided with an aperture 5! in addition to the aperture 50, to which the lever 33 is linked, thus making it possible to manually oscillate this plate 29 either by means of the lever 38 in linkage 44, or by a short link 65 pivotally engaged in the aperture 58, or by a' chain ti having its respective ends pivotally engaged in both apertures 56 and El. For less expensive structures the link 60 or the chain 65 may be employed, whereas in the event that objection is raised to operating linkage suspended between the glass of the storm sash and window panes, the form of construction illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 may be employed at a slight additional expense.

From the foregoing description it will be understood that all of the metal parts may be formed of stamped sheet metal and pieces of wire, the sheet metal being struck up in such a manner as to provide the necessary supporting and connecting brackets suitably punched to receive the pivot pins and wire linkage. Therefore the entire structure may be inexpensively produced and secured to a storm sash in such a manner as to strengthen or reinforce the top rail. Where the lever 38 and operating links 44 are employed, the operating mechanism will be inconspicuous and yet readily manipulatable when the permanent lower sash is raised.

The entire structure is so organized that it may be installed and operated in association with any ordinary storm sash, notwithstanding the extremely narrow available space between the storm sash and the permanent window sash.

I claim:

1. The combination with a storm sash having a slotted top rail, of a correspondingly slotted reinforcing plate secured to the outer surface of said rail and provided with inturned flanges respectively engaging the top and bottom walls of the sash rail slot, an outwardly swinging shutter in hinged relation to the top rail above said slot, a bracket struck up from one of said flanges and positioned within said top rail slot, a shutter actuating plate pivotally secured to the bracket and linked to the shutter, and a lever having one end linked to, and adapted to oscillate said plate, said lever being provided with depending operating linkage associated with one side rail of said sash.

2. The combination with a storm sash having a slotted top rail, a shutter plate mounted for pivotally swinging movement toward and away from the outer surface of said top rail, a reinforcing plate secured to the top rail along the margins of its slot and having flanges extending into the slot, a bracket struck up from one of said flanges, an oscillatory plate pivoted to the bracket, a link connecting the oscillatory plate with the shutter plate, means for actuating said oscillatory plate, and a stop for limiting the movement of the said oscillatory plate when the point of its connection with said link moves above a horizontal plane which includes the axis of the oscillatory plate.

3. The combination with a storm sash having a slotted top rail, a shutter adapted for adjustment into and out of slot closing relation to the top rail, a reinforcing plate secured to the top rail along the margins of said slot and having flanges extending into'said slot, a bracket supported from one of said flanges within the central portion of the slot, an oscillatory plate pivoted to the bracket and linked tothe shutter, a lever pivoted to the inner face of said top rail and having one end linked to the oscillatory plate and another end portion extending to the side rail of said sash, and linkage slidingly mounted on said side rail with its upper end connected with said lever.

4. The combination with a storm sash having a slotted top rail, a shutter operatively connected for pivotal movement into and out of slot closing relation to the top rail, a reinforcing plate secured to the top rail along the margins of said slot and having flanges extending into said slot, a bracket supported from one of said flanges within the central portion of the slot, an oscillatory plate pivoted to the bracket and linked to the shutter, a lever pivoted to the inner face of said top rail and having one end linked to the oscillatory plate and another end portion extending to the side rail of said sash, and linkage slidingly mounted on said side fail with its upper end connected with said lever, said lever having spaced means for connecting said linkage at differing distances from its outer end, whereby the lever and linkage may be mounted upon storm sash of diflfering widths.

5. A storm sash having a slotted top rail in combination with a shutter plate mounted for movement into and out of slot closing relation to the outer surface of the rail, an intermediate motion transmitting member mounted within said slot for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis substantially parallel with the outer surface of the rail, a link having pivotal connection with said motion transmitting member at one end and pivotal connection with the shutter plate at the other end, a cooperative oscillatory member supported from the inner face of said top rail and operatively connected with said intermediate motion transmitting member, a stop for limiting the shutter plate opening movement of said intermediate motion transmitting member, and a vertically movable actuating member supported from the side rail of said sash and operatively connected with said oscillatory member, whereby upward and downward movements of the actuating member along the side rail of said sash may be transmitted along the inner face of the top rail and through the slot to adjust the shutter plate to its open and closed positions, said intermediate motion transmitting member being adapted, when oscillated from a normal shutter plate closing position, to carry its link pivot from a point below its axis of oscillation to a point above such axis, whereby the weight of the shutter plate in its open position will tend'to hold the intermediate motion transmitting member in contact with said stop.

6. A storm sash having a slotted top rail in combination with a correspondingly slotted metal plate secured to the outer surface of the rail and provided with flanges extending into the rail slot, a movable shutter mounted on the outer face of said metal plate, shutter operating mechanism mounted upon one of said flanges within the rail slot and operatively connected with the shutter to open and close the same, and actuating mechanism extending along the inner face of the storm sash and adapted for movement between the storm sash and the permanent sash in a plane vparallel therewith, said actuating mechanism being connected to actuate the shutter operating mechanism in either of two directions. l v

7. In a storm sash having a slotted top rail and a movable shutter plate having its upper margin pivotally supported for swinging move ment of the plate into and out of slot closing position, the combination with said shutter plate of an oscillatory membermounted within the central portion of the top rail slot and linked to the shutter plate, and mechanism extending along the inner face of the storm sash and 0peratively connected to oscillate said member,

said top rail being provided with a metal rep inforcing member having portions extending within said slot and having struck up arms provided with a cross pin pivotally supporting the oscillatory member, and a stop pin for limiting the shutter plate opening movement of the oscillatory member in a shutter plate locking position.

8. A storm sash having in combination a slotted top rail provided with stamped sheet metal reenforcing and shutter plates, said reenforcing plate having a struck-up mounting within the top rail slot, shutter plate positioning mechanism secured to said mounting within the top rail slot,

Y actuating means extending along the side rail of said sash and the inner face of the top rail, and a connection between the actuating mechanism and the shutter plate positioning mechanism adapted to permit reciprocation of the actuating mechanism wholly in a plane parallel to and in close, proximity with said sash, whereby said actuating mechanism may operate in the narrow space ordinarily existing between a storm sash and a permanent window sash.

FRANCIS J. SCHMIDT. 

